KUWAIT CITY, Aug 13: A number of students and educational specialists have expressed concern over the astronomical admission fees charged by private universities in the country, reports Al- Seyassah daily. They indicated that these universities are exploiting the inability of Kuwait University and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) to offer seats to many secondary school graduates. A student Luay Ibrahim said the fees charged by private universities in Kuwait are higher than those in some developed countries, indicating that he intends to further his studies in Jordan where study expenses are relatively cheap compared to the expensive tuition fees in Kuwait. Another student Jamal Al-Dufaeri declared that private universities in Kuwait deal with the applicants as though they are among the highly rated universities in the world. He revealed that he opted to study in England, where education is more expensive but is worthwhile due to international recognition.

Meanwhile, a member of the Supreme Planning Council Dr. Khalid Bin Sha’ban Al-Hajri said the reason for high fees in private universities is the large number of local scholarships granted by the Kuwaiti government. He revealed that a recent report from the Ministry of Education indicates that about 4,000 students are studying on government scholarships in those universities, clarifying that it is natural for the universities to increase their fees because they will not charge parents less than what the government pays them. Former assistant undersecretary of Ministry of Education and Professor of Environmental Sciences for Graduate Students at Kuwait University Dr Yaqoub Al- Sharrah said learning at private universities in Kuwait has been overshadowed by business mindset. He asserted that the learning output from those universities does not justify the tuition fees of about KD 10,000 paid annually, adding that the main problem is that these universities do not pay tax. He said he wondered what would have happened if tax had to be paid like in European countries where universities maintain high standards.

Proposal
In the meantime, the Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Research and Curricula at the Ministry of Education Dr Saud Al- Harbi was recently quoted as saying the ministry has turned down the proposal submitted by the International Bank to merge the Islamic studies with the Holy Qur’an for Arabic at the primary stage, reports Al-Rai daily. In a press statement he emphasized the ministry sticks to its stand in Islamic studies as an independent curriculum which includes various Islamic branches such as Qur’an and worship. He clarified each person who works hard in this domain has the right to submit his point of view. However, the final decision rests in the hands of the ministry alone. He disclosed the ministry has a tendency to programming all curricula starting from class one to the twelfth class including Islamic studies which will teach values for good citizenship, tolerance and peaceful coexistence and acceptance of others. He added the step of developing the curricula will consider the political and territorial circumstances in the region and put aside extremism and radicalism. In the same context, an educational source said the ministry curricula are reviewed every four years by a committee of specialists — personnel from the Research Sector of the Kuwait University and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET). He added the ministry is keen to review the curricula to prevent the ideology of some radical Islamic organizations seeping into the system. Without mentioning the names, he indicated the sector has received some complaints from the guardians of students of a primary stage that the Islamic studies include some concepts of Jihad which are unsuitable for students of third standard at this phase